Can sea cucumber pee fertilize kelp? Em Lim tells us more about this intriguing creature!

July 30, 2021

Getting personal with sea critters

In this episode, my guest is Em Lim, a queer, non-binary MSc student in Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. They will share with us their personal story that led them to study sea cucumbers, their research experiment, and why sea cucumbers are such fascinating animals. We also discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion in marine sciences.

After the gut-wrenching news of hundreds of children found buried near residential schools in Canada, Em asks us if we could donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society: https://www.irsss.ca/donate.

We hope you will enjoy this episode and join us monthly to discover new guests and their work! In the meantime, check out Em’s bio and contact information below.

Em Lim on Twitter: "Right now I'm messing around with sea cucumber pee for my masters, and this is probably the best photo of me that's ever been taken!… https://t.co/ihWTkuuzVw"
A young mixed race person in a black wetsuit and wearing white gloves smiles and wears a sea cucumber as a hat. The scene takes place on a boat on some calm waters next to a rocky shore with evergreen trees

Em Lim is a queer, non-binary MSc student in Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.  They received their BSc at University of British Columbia with a major in Biology. They are currently studying the role animals play in nutrient cycling. They are based in Bamfield, Canada, on the traditional territories of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations. An avid SCUBA diver, Em is passionate about marine biology, diversity, and inclusion.

You can follow them on Twitter @sea_en_emily and email them at em_lim@sfu.ca.

The Tile for Rising Sea Voices was designed by Brian Gionfriddo.
This episode was recorded on June 28th, 2021.

Show Transcription
This transcription was generated by a computer. Please excuse any errors.
Felicia Olmeta-Schult

Felicia Olmeta-Schult is the 2021 Oregon Sea Grant Resilience Fellow and works to increase the resilience of Oregon communities to the impacts of climate change and coastal natural hazards. She is also ASPN University Project Lead. Felicia has a B.S. in Oceanography from Hawaii Pacific University, a M.A. in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island, and a Ph.D. in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences from Washington State University. Her dissertation investigated the North Coast of California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative by studying how stakeholders interacted and were involved during the marine protected area (MPA) planning process and how they perceived socio-economic and ecological effects of MPAs. She was a 2018-19 Washington Sea Grant Hershman Fellow at the Washington Department of Ecology Shorelands & Environmental Assistance Program where she participated in the Washington Coastal Resilience Project. She lives in the Pacific Northwest where she enjoys the outdoors hiking and playing in rivers and the ocean. She loves traveling, especially back home to Corsica, a French Mediterranean island, so she can spend time with her family and swim in the warm sea (and not in the frigid waters of the North Pacific Ocean). You can contact her at felicia@coastalnewstoday.com and follow her on Twitter @FolmetaSchult and on LinkedIn.